Harry Richardson

Hanging out with the small screen star.

All clothing NEIL BARRETT

Harry Richardson is riffling through the rail of clothes that Wonderland has brought to the shoot for him to wear. He’s pulling out coats and jumpers and throwing them on, admiring them momentarily before moving onto the next plush garm that takes his fancy. It’s only when he tells me that this his first fashion shoot that it all makes sense. That, and the fact that he loves to dress up and play a character, evidenced by his role in historical dramas Doctor Thorne and the upcoming season of Poldark, where he’ll give Aidan Turner a run for his money as the show’s resident dreamboat.

Flitting between Australia and the UK – and having recently finished drama school – Harry is just at the start of his on-screen career. So ahead of his inevitable rise (and before he becomes a point of obsession for guys and gals the planet over), we stole a moment to talk life on, and off, camera.

So we’ve just wrapped shooting. How does being in front of an SLR camera compare to being in-front of a TV camera?

There’s a lot of differences! I’m a lot more self-conscious in front of a stills camera, ‘cause you’re thinking about what you look like rather than focusing on a scene and trying to become a different person and be somewhere else. I think in film, you’re avoiding the fact that somebody’s there.
And what is it like being on an actual TV set?

Ridiculous! It’s like a whole bunch of kids with jobs, and everyone’s running around playing dress-up and having fun. But it can get super stressful, most of the time it’s like being in the military though! It’s so well run.

Do you remember what it was like the first time you ever walked onto a set?

Completely terrifying! I definitely had like one line in some drama and I was sweating buckets thinking that it was really important that I nailed it. I think they cut me out.

Have you always aspired to be an actor?

Yeah, I think so. It was always the thing I had most fun with growing up. It’s a great way to push and express yourself, and being on stage was so much fun.

What you were like as a child? Earlier on you were saying you were quite dramatic, how did that manifest?

Completely mental! I just had way too much energy, probably a big attention seeker!

How have you found the transition from drama school to being involved in big scale productions, and a TV show?

I mean, nothing really prepares you for it, except for the people that are involved seem to know what they’re doing, so you get there and try to consume as much advice from everybody. It’s super, super different.

And what’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given so far?

Maybe, ‘stay boring’ (laughs).

Stay boring?!

No, best piece of advice is just to breathe, I suppose. You’ve just got to bring it down. My issue is anxiety, and my people are just like ‘take it easy and have some fun’.

All clothing GIVENCHY

You lived in Australia for a while, do you miss living there?

I’ve been back and forth, but I was born in Sydney and moved straight here when I was a baby, and then I moved back to Australia for high school, and then back again to here. I miss the lifestyle for sure, and the beaches, and the food. But, here is just so vibrant and there’s so much culture and drama. I mean, they’re two different worlds entirely. If I could have both that’d be great.

Tell us a bit about how you prepare for a role once you decide to take it on.

I absorb as much art as possible around that character. I like listening to music a lot, playlists, and trying to get into the feel. But anything down to [the] clothes someone would wear, to art, visiting museums and trying to figure out something else about the world that they live in is amazing and watching other films that deal with it I suppose. But just trying to inhabit it.

What are your hobbies outside of acting?

I’ve loved skating since I was a little one. Maybe since I was twelve, on and off. I’ve got battle scars and all of that stuff. It’s harder now working as an actor I suppose, you’ve got to make sure you don’t break anything. But that and rock climbing! The cast [of Poldark], a bunch of us – actually the Carne siblings from the show – we all go climbing together, we picked up bouldering and that’s been really fun. That and loads of yoga and playing music!

You play music too! What do you play?

I mean, I’m not a musician, I just have a bunch of fun doing it. I play guitar. My dad’s a professional musician, so growing up with that was pretty cool, with loads of guitars around, so I play that, and some sax and fiddle around on other things, and beat pads like a crazy man.

Sounds cool. So moving forward, what’s the big plan?

More adventures, for sure. More testing, more skills. More stretching the boundaries physically and mentally, I really want to just learn more. But more scripts, man, more stories. I’m just hungry!